Insert lift for ladies&#39; shoe heels



Jan. 3, 1961 c RET INSERT LIFT FOR LADIES SHOE HEELS Filed Oct. 2, 1958 CHARLES MARfT Unite INSERT LIFT FOR LADIES SHOE HEELS Charles Maret, 2 Rue des Trois Carreaux, Romans, France It is a well known fact that ladies shoe-heels of the so-called French or Italian type are subjected to a speedy wear of the end bearing on the ground while their repair is a delicate matter.

It has already been proposed to remove this drawback by providing the end of a heel of this type with an insert lift made of rubber or the like material, which is comparatively yielding but resists abrasion. However, the insert lifts proposed hitherto ofler generally an insuflicient resistance to the wear and tear produced by walking and their securing to the heel is ensured only in a precarious manner.

My invention has for its object an insert lift or endpiece showing a remarkable resistance to wear and to the conventional causes of deformation, while it is provided with simple and efficient means for securing it to the end of the actual heel body.

The heel lift or end-piece according to my invention includes chiefly a tread element bearing on the ground and made of a comparatively yielding abrasion-resisting material associated with a tenon made in one with said tread element, said tenon being adapted to engage a mortise of a corresponding shape formed in the heel body, the tread element bearing on the ground being fitted in a metal cup enclosing its upper surface while its lower free edge is substantially flush with the lower surface of said tread element.

By reason of this arrangement, the tread element of the insert lift or end-piece is constantly held fast throughout its height while the wearer is walking so that it cannot be crushed, deformed or disaggregated.

In the execution of my invention, the insert end-piece may be provided throughout its height with a central opening through which the air enclosed inside the mortise of the heel is allowed to escape when the tenon of the heel end-piece is being fitted inside the said mortise. Said opening may also serve for the passage of a pin adapted to engage the heel so as to form further means for securing the insert end-piece.

Said further securing means are however unfit for use in the case where the heel is made of a light metal such as aluminium and it appears sometimes in the case of wooden heels as unable to prevent the insert endpiece from turning with reference to the heel.

In a preferred embodiment of my invention, I remove said drawback by giving the opening extending throughout the height of the insert end-piece a conicity tapering slightly in an upward direction, while it is secured at the moment of the introduction of the insert endpiece by a metal pin having a polygonal cross-section, a square cross-section for instance, the sides of said cross-section being preferably concave and its diagonals being slightly longer than the average diameter of the opening.

Under such conditions, the introduction of the abovementioned pin into the opening of the insert end-piece has for its result a lateral expansion of the tenon and atent O "ice its energetic application against the wall of the heel mortise. This application against said wall is also more energetic along the longitudinal ridges of the pin having a polygonal cross-section which prevents efficiently the insert end-piece from turning with reference to the heel carrying it.

Further features of my invention will appear in the reading of the detailed description given hereinafter, reference being made to the accompanying drawings given by way of example and by no means in a limiting sense. In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a heel provided with its insert end-piece.

Fig. 2 is a cross-section on a larger scale of my improved insert end-piece together with the corresponding metal cup.

Fig. 3 is a partial sectional view of a heel body over which my improved insert end-piece has been positioned and secured.

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of a pin intended more particularly for securing the insert end-piece over an aluminium heel.

Fig. 5 is a cross-section of the pin illustrated in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is an elevational view of a modified pin intended more particularly for securing an insert endpiece in a wooden heel.

As apparent from inspection of Figs. 1 and 2, the insert end-piece 1 secured to the lower end of the shoe heel 2 includes a tread element 3 bearing on the ground and a tenon 4 rigid therewith and engaging a mortise 5 formed in the heel body 2. These component parts 3 and 4- form a unit of a comparatively yielding, abrasion-resisting material, such as plastic material, for example, polyethylene or a rubber, leather or an equivalent material. According to may invention, the groundengaging tread element 3 is fitted inside a metal cup 6 provided with a central opening 7 for the passage therethrough of the tenon 4. Said cup has substantially the same height as the element 3 so that, when it is positioned over the insert end-piece, as shown in Fig. 3, its lower edge is substantially fiush with the lower surface of the element 3. Preferably, said cup is made of hardened steel so that it may show a considerable rigidity and hold fast as perfectly as possible the tread element 3 when the heel is in contact with the ground.

The insert end-piece thus formed is provided throughout its height with an opening 8 which, according to a preferred embodiment of my invention, shows an upwardly directed slightly tapering shape. Said opening 8 is adapted to be engaged by a securing pin 9 of a metal such as ductile steel, copper, or the like, and of the type illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, the transverse crosssection of which has a shape somewhat similar to a diamond ace, i.e. the general shape of a square the sides of which are concave. The diagonals of said crosssection are slightly longer than the mean diameter of the opening 8 so that the introduction of the end-piece inside the heel 2 through the opening 8 is performed of necessity with a force fit and the lateral ridges 10 of the pin form ribs producing an expansion of the tenon 4 inside the mortise 5 of the heel body, which ensures thereby an energetic holding of the tenon in the mortise while preventing to a sufficient extent any turning of the end-piece with reference to the heel body 2.

In the case of an aluminium heel corresponding to the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 3, the mortise 5 of the heel is only slightly deeper than the height of the tenon 4 and the pin 9 terminates with a slightly sharpened tip 11 (Fig. 4). The total length of said pin is then such that, when it has completely engaged the endpiece, as shown in Fig. 3, its tip 11 is crushed upon engagement with the bottom of the mortise 5 and it fills, at least partly, the space left free by the tenon 4 inside said mortise.

In the case of a woden heel, the pin 9 shown in Fig. 6 is used, which includes a tip 12 of a length substantially greater than that of the pin precedingly described with reference to Figs. 4 and 5 and consequently said tip, instead of being crushed against the bottom of the heel mortise 5, enters the wood of the heel and increases thereby the resistance of the securing means.

The embodiments which have just been described have obviously been given solely by way of exemplification and by no means in a limiting sense, and various detail modifications may be brought thereto without unduly widening thereby the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims.

What I claim is:

1. A heel for ladies dress shoes comprising a solid heel body having a mortised end, an annular metal cup positioned exteriorly of said heel and having its base mounted on said heel body mortised end, said cup having an opening in said base thereof in alignment with said heel mortise, a one-piece member of a yielding abrasion-resisting material including a tread element of a configuration corresponding to the interior of said cup and a tenon of a configuration corresponding to said heel body mortise extending from said tread element through said cup opening into said heel body mortise, said tread element being entirely positioned within said cup with the free edge of said cup being flush with the ground engaging surface of said tread element and a pin extending through said member opening which pin is of a greater width than at least a portion of said member opening expanding said tenon into a tight fit with said heel body.

2. A lift for heels having mortised ends comprising a one-piece member of a yieldable abrasion-resisting material including a tubular tenon capable of extending within the heel mortise, said member and its tenon having a conical upwardly directed opening extending throughout the height of said member and tenon and an element extending through said member opening for fixing said member to the heel.

3. A lift for heels having mortised ends comprising a one-piece member of a yieldable abrasion-resisting material including a portion for supporting the heel on a surface and a tenon extending from said support portion capable of extending within the heel mortise, said member having a narrow conical opening extending throughout the length of said support portion and said tenon, a cup having an opening and having said support portion position therein with said tenon extending through said cup opening and an element extending through said member opening for fixing said lift to the heel.

Slough Feb. 24. 1925 Fitzsimmons Feb. 20, 1934 

